Another One Bites the Dust
Screw it–I’m done doing research. It only leads you to sites like THIS–more than the content of the blog, it is the comment section that really bothers me. I will be posting a question on Rick Steves about ‘safety in Barcelona’–but this particular site makes it sound really, really really bad. Oh and please please please click on the link ‘surefire way to avoid pickpockets’–warning, it is disturbing, but in the funniest of ways.
I’m sitting here looking at my Lonely Planet Barcelona and sighing. And another one gone and another one gone…another one bites the dust.
And I didn’t even post a Barcelona picture as my wallpaper. Sigh.
An immediate edit…
ARRRGH! Yes, it seems I research too much. Because no matter what I look for, I can find it. For example, when I google ‘Barcelona Crime’, I get sites like the one linked above. If I look on Rick Steves, I find thread like THIS ONE–which are very reassuring. So screw it some more–I’m going. I bet if I googled Vermont Crime I’d find some scary things, too.
About Barcelona, elbodans— Definitely go! You should have gathered from my site, Thiefhunters in Paradise, that I ADORE the city, and recommend it as a top notch travel destination. Yes, there’s tons of theft. I know from 17 years or so of active, personal research there (and the rest of the world, so I can compare). Pickpocketing, bag-snatching, and street cons are pretty low priority crimes for police departments (everywhere!), so the best defense is a raised awareness. So many travelers come from safe small towns, and they think they can put their purses on the backs of chairs or on the ground at a cafe. They aren’t aware of the clever ruses used to steal wallets. I’ve seen too many devastated travelers…
No one in the travel industry wants to talk about this dirty little secret. But I can assure you that Barcelona is one city with a lot of thieves on the lookout for naive tourists. Not the city with the most thieves, but it’s way up there. Stow your stuff safely, be aware, and go! You will love it.
thanks for the reassurance–and please know that i wasn’t basing it on what you said (great site, by the way!), i was basing it on the thirty or so comment to said post. and, to be even more honest, i don’t plan to take anything worth stealing! ha! but it still is kind of…what is the word i’m looking for–discouraging–to hear some of the personal stories. i’m not writing it off yet, though. i’m a huge non-fan of not doing things just because they might be scary (did all of those double negatives make sense? sorry!) again–thanks for the comment and the encouragement!